________________
JAINA EPIGRAPHS: PART III
847
from A. D. 1008 to 1015; and as the record refers to the first year of his reign, it may be assigned approximately to a. D. 1008.
. Though the record is not quite explicit on the point, there seems to be little doubt regarding the spiritual order of the teacher Simhanandi. He belonged to the Dēsiga gana and Kondakunda anvaya. It is known that the Dôsiga gana was a section of the Müla Samgha. We may again note here the laconic nature of the epigraph in furnishing not all the details as regards the lineage of the teacher. This may be due to the fact that such a convention had not yet fully evolved as we find it in the later period. The inscription mentions the names of five teachers who evidently belonged to the spiritual lineage of Simhanandi and were his pr eminence. It is not clear if a direct succession in respect of them is meant here. The names of the teachers as furnished by the record, including Simhahandi and Kalyāṇakirti are as follows: 1) Ravichandrāchārya; 2) Guņasāgara ; 3) Guņachandra; 4) Abhayaņandi; 5) Māghaṇandi; 6) Simhanandi; and 7) Kalyāṇakīrti. From the high tribute paid to his memory in the epigraph, Simhanandi appears to have been a sage of great renown. He does not seem to have been a resident of the place and associated with any local monastery. The record specifically states that he came to the holy place and practised austerities. So he must have been an outsider like Sarvanandi of inscription No. 19. Like many other preceptors he must have sought fulfilment of the great ambition of his life, viz., freedom from physical bondage, in relinquishing his mortal coil in this supremely holy place.
It is worth noting in this context that a good number of sculptures commemorating the demise of Jaina aspirants in this sacred place are found carved on the rock of the Gavimath hill and other places. All of them do not bear inscriptions. Still the testimony afforded by such Nishidhis is valuable for assessing the importance of the place.
The epigraph does not disclose in clear terms the relationship of Kalyāṇakirti with Simhanandi. But we shall be justified in assuming that the former was the disciple of the latter. Kalyāṇakirti appears to have been an eminent divine and influential monk. He does not seem to have been present on the spot at the time of his master's demise. But arriving there later he acquitted himself creditably. It was he who was responsible for the construction of the Jaina temple in honour of his preceptor and the setting up of this memorial inscription. The temple was erected on the spot where Simhanandi breathed his last. Kalyānakirti had already earned a good name and gratitude from the followers of the faith for having installed an excellent image of Lord Jina at Bichchukunde. He was associated with the Jaina temple of Nāgadēva, possibly at Bichchukunde,
